Hey, I just started playing Ladder, so I wanted to get some input on what character to start. I need a char that can MF Hell Baal with minimal twinking.. I've heard that the Hammerdin and the Skelemancer were good choices, but I don't want to screw up after realizing that it can't kill squat in Hell. Thanks in advance!

Meteorb sorc is good for a start, nothing much gonna be immune, tele without needing enigma, I would go for it. You could go for a hammerdin, but they aren't as good for boss running, or doing quick runs to the pit/masoleum etc.. imo.

Start with Hell Meph before going to Hell Baal or whatever other areas in the game that can drop anything. If you are starting, you need more volume and variety before trying to get the really hard to find stuff.

Thanks for all the input. I suppose that I'll make a sorc, but should I make it a Meteorb or a Blizz? Which one would be cheaper and (hopefully) more versatile?

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Versatility is the Meteorb... Personally... I wen't blizzard. Then you hang around NM until you find: Guillame's Face, Rattlecage, and a Hone Sudan. It's all low lvl norm or nm stuff but it rocks on a Merc. Then you can use your merc for the cold immunes in hell and Blizz for everything else. Also the cold effect of the blizzard will keep the baddies from running too far b/c of rattlecage and it will also keep the merc from getting swamped.

You can either go Defiance or Prayer merc. You won't need a might merc since the damage will come from the Crushing blow on the equipment. I wen't prayer since with the equipment he's life leech poor (2 shaels & 1 Amn in the Hone).

If i would start a caracther, i would still go Hammerdin, same as first time.

And for magic find, well, you could used some fast cast rate and all the rest of equipment of 4sockets crappy armor with ptopaz same for shield and you have 200 mf right there for nothing... And yes, even with those, you'll do ok in hell... For example, the pits would still be as easy as it can be...

Used Sorceress for Mephisto. Maybe have said do Fire one, others do Cold one. I could add do lightning one since it honestly dont really matter which sorceress for mephisto... lightning a bit harder maybe (MAYBE) but you will be able to do the pits as well with her.

my first character was also a hammerdin ( before the entire hammerdin craze hit ) on the first day of ladder. I was very happy with his damage and versatility as far as being able to kill in ANY situation. and sure they can solo pits without much tweaking in hell. But as someone has stated before.....when you're starting out you wanna go for quantity and get your character set up and going very well off instead of searching for the best items right off the bat.
............. I picked a blizzard sorc for my first char next ladder season b/c a blizzard sorc CAN murder meph with crap equip and very do it very well. not only that i can run ancient tunnels very very fast .... and this is naked lol. So i can run meph fast for my quantity items and masouleum and ancient tunnels for my high end stuff. as you can see this makes for lots of items in no time and therefore the prime choice for a first char.

Is my usual progression... some say 10 in cold mastery to start and then max last. I prefer ice blast over glacial spike since it has a longer freeze time than glacial spike. Be familiar with 'the moat trick' for Meph it will make your life easier. Also try and max the crushing blow on your merc it will make your runs Immensly faster.

Anksun: the lightning tree is a poor choice for your first char since it's mana hungry. You'll need good equipment to make up for either your low mana or your low life. The spells aren't timered and are spamable so you're meant to fire them off like a machine gun... Meteor and Blizzard aren't.

P.S. Wizendraw is a cheesy inexpensive way to get more -enemy cold resists.

Everyone suggesting sorc to go for Meph? How about doing Eldritch with a LF Java? You can level and MF at the same time, how convenient. Slap on 200 MF and level from 50-70 at Eldritch NM, from 70-85++ at Eldritch Hell. You could easily do that with your starting javelins, your Valk will be able to take out LI Eld with ease, so even your merc gear won't matter.

Everyone suggesting sorc to go for Meph? How about doing Eldritch with a LF Java? You can level and MF at the same time, how convenient. Slap on 200 MF and level from 50-70 at Eldritch NM, from 70-85++ at Eldritch Hell. You could easily do that with your starting javelins, your Valk will be able to take out LI Eld with ease, so even your merc gear won't matter.

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He's correct.

My LF Zon could solo everything in Hell at lvl 77 with ease. Just summon Valk infront of you where the monsters are and let her get hit while you LF them to death. Quite easy. Only thing LF Zons suck for are the big Bosses like Meph/Diablo/Baal. Other then that everythings easy.

If i would start a caracther, i would still go Hammerdin, same as first time.

And for magic find, well, you could used some fast cast rate and all the rest of equipment of 4sockets crappy armor with ptopaz same for shield and you have 200 mf right there for nothing... And yes, even with those, you'll do ok in hell... For example, the pits would still be as easy as it can be...

Used Sorceress for Mephisto. Maybe have said do Fire one, others do Cold one. I could add do lightning one since it honestly dont really matter which sorceress for mephisto... lightning a bit harder maybe (MAYBE) but you will be able to do the pits as well with her.

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Personaly i find hammerdins too weak defensively against ranged attackers with starter/ladder gear. My hammerdin get slaughthered by the burning spirits in worldstone keep and he has maxed lighting resistances.

No i think for a starter character you need to have teleport or a good crowd controll skill like Dim Vision (Necro) or cloak of shadows (Assasin).

Only thing LF Zons suck for are the big Bosses like Meph/Diablo/Baal. Other then that everythings easy.

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I give you meph, because he can be pretty nasty, but Diablo and Baal are wusses. And Charged Strike ist the one skill to rule them all. Just 20 Points in each LF and CS will give 3.5k average lightning damage per hit. Add another synergy and +10 skills and we reach 13k average lightning damage per hit. Add a Thunderstroke for -15% enemy lr and 11fpa with 20ias gloves. Add Griffons for a further -15-20% enemy lr. Admire the speed at which your Zon pokes Dia to death - while looking cute like a squirrel.

I agree that a fire sorc, blizz sorc, bonemancer and hammeridian are all good. But I would still suggest a lightening trapsin, they do good dmg w/o any tweaking at all (i think it's about 4k per lightening) and you won't have to worry about lags as you sit behind the traps and watch it kill as Baal's minions get shreaded. And (check me on this one) I think that neither Baal's minion nor Baal have lightening immunity in Hell.

As we all remember, in 1.09, physical attackers were considered only "okay" for magic finding. Casters, being nearly as powerful and vastly less equipment dependent, were favored for magic finding. Only two non-caster builds were considered efficient enough to warrant playing for MF: whirlwind barbarians and amazons.

Now in 1.10, the question is simpler to answer. Casters, who were already favored for MF, are now vastly more powerful than non-casters. In fact, the characters that see the most discussion in 1.10 are casters who are completely appropriate for magic finding. It could also be that the ladder split has made magic finding extremely popular. Either way, just stick to the most popular set of characters and you'll do fine.

Is my usual progression... some say 10 in cold mastery to start and then max last. I prefer ice blast over glacial spike since it has a longer freeze time than glacial spike. Be familiar with 'the moat trick' for Meph it will make your life easier. Also try and max the crushing blow on your merc it will make your runs Immensly faster.

Anksun: the lightning tree is a poor choice for your first char since it's mana hungry. You'll need good equipment to make up for either your low mana or your low life. The spells aren't timered and are spamable so you're meant to fire them off like a machine gun... Meteor and Blizzard aren't.

P.S. Wizendraw is a cheesy inexpensive way to get more -enemy cold resists.